Cliff, I feel your pain. I hooked up with the "Walleye" guide and all we caught was 15 lb. stripers and a few spots- on Lanier. Best bet, from what I gather, is to chill until the early spring spawn and proceed up to the shallow origins of the Chatahoochee and look for the holes. Danger, lots of stumps in the river at lower water levels. I Haven't hit it yet but that, they tell me, is where it's at for WE. Keep at it.
Welcome Guest!
Are You a Walleye Angler or Want to Be?
- Thread starter Cliff Speed
- Start date
I spent several years targeting walleyes in our NC mountain lakes, and got good enough at it that I could usually catch a limit. tactics depend greatly on the time of year. When walleye are spawning, they can be caught around the river mouths on chartreuse twister jigs, nightcrawlers, or trolling Rapalas or Wally Divers. After they come back out of the rivers, you can catch them on clay banks with nightcrawlers on a jig head or spinner rig, or with Shad Raps or jerkbaits. Pappy gave some good advice-you want light line and light weights. I catch most of my walleye vertical jigging in deep water. I have caught them over a hundred feet deep on jigging spoons, and used to catch quite a few suspended under schools of shad in open water. Fishing at night will greatly, greatly increase your chances of catching walleye in numbers. If you want to be consistently succesful walleye fishing, going at night is the ticket.
jigman29
Senior Member
I try to target them but it is yough to catch them on purpose but I have done it.I have my best luck in a lake I wont name an hour and a half drive from here.We go way up in the river runs at night and put out all the light we can and when the bait shows up we jig spoons under the bait school.We have had nights that we really tore them up but you have to hit it right or its like anything else.I personally don't care for the taste of them.They are to mild for me.I know people say I am weird for it but would rather have a stronger tasting fish.I even leave the red on a bass filet when I eat them.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
Try replacing the word "walleye" and put back the word "gold" in its place. That is how Weird it sounds to people who have taken the years and many dollars it takes to figure out the walleye bite. Nobody would expect someone to give up there gold mine but everybody expects folks to just hand over the where, when, how, what, bait choice, depth, how you held your mouth, information about something that took them years and many thousands of dollars to figure out.
For me it has taken 5 years + and in gas, hotel stays, tires, bait, gear etc I have spent $11k. I started just like the OP. Wanting to catch a walleye and having never done so. 5 years later with limited information, which is readily available on the web btw, and many grand spent I can go walleye fishing EXPECTING to catch at least one walleye every other trip for 4/5 of the year. I still feel like a newb but from what im told many folks consider me one of the go to people on walleye for having had my limited amount of success. Yet I still ask questions all the time.
So here it is folks. Im going to give you the amazing secret to walleye success in Georgia. Get ready for it..........There is no secret!!!!!. They are hard to catch and if you fish for them like you fish for other species you arent going to be able to target them. If you target them correctly, you still arent going to catch them very often if at all. They do not like light. Our georgia lakes with walleye are very clear. This means catching them during the day becomes that much more difficult. They move A LOT. They can be 80ft deep over a 300 foot bottom in carters and the same day be 10 feet deep in a river channel not even moving in another lake. Over night those fish 80ft deep may be on a point 3 feet deep stalking bream or perch near the shoreline.....Ive seen it.
So here is the problem. To consistently catch them in georgia you got to fish at night. They arent cat fish so you arent going to just throw out rods and wear them out. They arent crappie. You can put out lights and have success but its very limited. They dont need your lights to be able to see, they see just fine without light. They like your bait in that light but they hate the lights so they are spooky around them. The best tactic for catching them at night takes a lot of rods and continuous trolling.....which is hard to do at night since YOU cant see what you are doing and where the fish are you will find plenty of snags that YOU cant see. That means slow going and few fish. Just like during the day using the same tactics you can cover more area but the fish arent all that excited to bite if at all.
In a Nutshell (Cliff notes version if you will)----Fish in the spring way up rivers in deep pools with reaction baits. Shad raps, curly tail grubs etc march/april depending on lakes. The rest of the year either slow jig spoons under bait when you mark fish and expect to catch a lot more of everything else before you get a walleye. Best bet is fish during 100% grey spitting skies and cover as much ground as you can with as many fish imitation baits as you can in as many different depths as you can. When you catch a walleye concentrate all efforts in that depth range with that bait and if you get really really lucky you can catch 3 or 4.
I spent a lot of time and money on that info above. Its all the same crap you can read and put together yourself but at least now nobody can say nobody talks about it. If you want a magic bullet there aint one and anybody claiming to sell one who actually had it.........would be a millionaire by now so dont hold your breath.
StriperrHunterr
Senior Member
I wasn't trying to pick a fight, so I apologize if my post dusted your ruffles.
But your chosen species of fish isn't the only one that takes time and money to master. Yours also isn't the only limited resource in the waters. But you don't see any other type of fisherman refusing to answer questions like you see walleye guys do.
A guy asks a question about striper, or spots, or shoalies, or crappie and people give advice through posts, or PM's, and help them out. Ask about walleye, and it's google it and then figure it out for yourself.
No one is looking for Lat/Long of your favorite weed edge, or rock ledge. Just that you went out last weekend, or the pattern typically says that during this time of year, and found them in deep timber, or sandy secondary points, or mainlake humps, around X-Y feet using Z tactic. It's no more than any other member would give another member regarding any other species, but it's apparently too much to ask for walleyes.
But your chosen species of fish isn't the only one that takes time and money to master. Yours also isn't the only limited resource in the waters. But you don't see any other type of fisherman refusing to answer questions like you see walleye guys do.
A guy asks a question about striper, or spots, or shoalies, or crappie and people give advice through posts, or PM's, and help them out. Ask about walleye, and it's google it and then figure it out for yourself.
No one is looking for Lat/Long of your favorite weed edge, or rock ledge. Just that you went out last weekend, or the pattern typically says that during this time of year, and found them in deep timber, or sandy secondary points, or mainlake humps, around X-Y feet using Z tactic. It's no more than any other member would give another member regarding any other species, but it's apparently too much to ask for walleyes.
If you want to catch walleyes, go read jigman's post, then read it again. Then read it a third time. That is the great mystical secret to catching walleye on a regular basis. He spelled it out in a little more detail than I did. I mentioned the basics so folks could figure it out on their own, he went ahead and said it. Now don't go telling everybody. You wonder why folks don't just give it up, go to the duck forum and ask them where to kill ducks on public land. It's the same principal.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
I wasnt offended. I was trying to be humorous. Though getting that accusation of not being helpful a second time......after giving you 5 years worth of info just hours ago is a bit irritating haha. You see walleye are not.....just another species of fish as you suggest. If you targeted them you would understand enough to not suggest it. Spots, Striper, and especially hybrids are about the dumbest fish I have ever fished for. Find bait on a graph and throw some live shad under it and you are going to catch one of those species almost any day of the year.......yes some days are harder than others but even a novice who sees lines on his electronics can go on any georgia lake twice and catch those species doing at least one of those days. Point being with todays electronics its like shooting fish in a barrel so your suggestion that striper and hybrid and bass fisherman tell you what pattern they are on just doesnt coincide with walleye fishing. That information while helpful and considerate is the equivalent of saying the sun will come up in the morning. There is no super pattern that works today that is going to catch them tomorrow to help you out. That is why I mentioned using lots of baits at lots of depths and covering lots of territory until you find one. Then concentrate on that depth that day. They move A LOT. Not like spots from deep brush to rocky points over the course of a season but like 80 feet suspended in the middle of nowhere for no reason to 3 feet deep at night near shore or structure........the same fish.
If ya want it even more clear.
Fish at night.
Fish slow.
Cover lots of water.
Walleye eat anything that moves if and when they want to.
If you fish during the day to the same thing but usually deeper and expect less bites
I grew up fishing walleye. You guessed it I'm not from around here. I grew up on the Quebec border in New York and fished the St. Lawrence river in Quebec and Ontario. We would troll the tributary rivers in the spring with three way rigs and during the summer we would use nighy crawlers on our own hand made 3 way rigs. I would love to go out with someone to target them. I would enjoy the challenge to try and catch one down here. But like mentioned Night time is your friend for walleye.
StriperrHunterr
Senior Member
I wasnt offended. I was trying to be humorous. Though getting that accusation of not being helpful a second time......after giving you 5 years worth of info just hours ago is a bit irritating haha. You see walleye are not.....just another species of fish as you suggest. If you targeted them you would understand enough to not suggest it. Spots, Striper, and especially hybrids are about the dumbest fish I have ever fished for. Find bait on a graph and throw some live shad under it and you are going to catch one of those species almost any day of the year.......yes some days are harder than others but even a novice who sees lines on his electronics can go on any georgia lake twice and catch those species doing at least one of those days. Point being with todays electronics its like shooting fish in a barrel so your suggestion that striper and hybrid and bass fisherman tell you what pattern they are on just doesnt coincide with walleye fishing. That information while helpful and considerate is the equivalent of saying the sun will come up in the morning. There is no super pattern that works today that is going to catch them tomorrow to help you out. That is why I mentioned using lots of baits at lots of depths and covering lots of territory until you find one. Then concentrate on that depth that day. They move A LOT. Not like spots from deep brush to rocky points over the course of a season but like 80 feet suspended in the middle of nowhere for no reason to 3 feet deep at night near shore or structure........the same fish.
If ya want it even more clear.
Fish at night.
Fish slow.
Cover lots of water.
Walleye eat anything that moves if and when they want to.
If you fish during the day to the same thing but usually deeper and expect less bites
You're right, that wasn't very nice of me. My apologies, again.
Thanks.
Growing up in Ohio, I almost exclusively fished for walleye. I catch them in Burton trolling nightcrawler harnesses fairly regularly. I think why most people have issues catching them is because they aren't used to fishing for them. Walleye can be pretty finicky, and you have to fish for them exclusively if you want to pick up more than an occasional fish.
shakey gizzard
Senior Member
I'll add water temp. Walleye are a cold water fish! Makes you wonder why Sauger aren't stocked more in the south?
Cliff Speed
Senior Member
Well hey everyone, I appreciate folks being willing to contribute even the slightest thing here. It helps me look at what I'm doing and verify if I'm doing all I can and doing the right things. I've really been trying to do my homework and from what everyone says here, I am doing the right things, I just haven't gotten on fish that are biting well yet, or just haven't gotten on them at all. It helps me more to hear what other people do so I know I'm doing the same thing and getting similar results.
Just like a lot of you said, you know, this past Saturday I put in on Lake Yonah at the ramp below Tugalo dam. I was on the water in my kayak before the sun was up and it poured rain all through most of the day. I went all over the upper half of the lake, hitting the tons of blow downs that are in there, drifting down the SC bank, then the GA bank for a while, trolling along the 35 foot mark for a while, then the 25, then the 15, 45, 50, going up into creek mouths, coming up on suspended fish and trying to get my bait in their zone - pretty much all the fish I saw were scattered and suspended. So basically I went everywhere and tried to cover as much water as possible without going too fast.
I started out with three way rigs. For my bottom dropper with the weight, I decided to try a jig head. I put a minnow on the jig head on one rig, and a nightcrawler on a hook for the long, trailing dropper. For the other one, I did just the opposite - I put the nightcrawler on the jig head and the minnow on the hook. I also just had a minnow on a hook with split shot above it. I managed to catch a yellow perch on that early on. I kept losing my three way rigs to the blow downs, so eventually I just went with the minnow on a hook with split shots and then a nightcrawler on a jig head. I tried trolling them around at different depths, bouncing them along the bottom, trolling them 100 feet behind the kayak, and just holding still on structure and dropping them straight down a foot off the bottom or directly on bottom.
The only times I noticed any action with my rod tips, was of course when I hooked the perch, but when I was over what was a hard bottom, let's say 20 feet, and then about 10 feet of green bottom on top of that. Not sure what I was looking at there, but my rod tips were moving while I was over that bottom, slowly getting pulled down, but nothing was ever there when I tried to set the hook. I could have been getting hung up, it could have been walleyes, or maybe it was just some lethargic little basses. Who knows. One time my rod got pulled pretty hard and kind of snapped back. A couple of other times, my rods pulled down and I thought I was hung. I pulled to get loose and my hooks came back with no bait. Again, not sure if I was snagged or if those were fish. I also got some rod tip action over a short, long green patch sitting on a 20 foot bottom, but again, no fish.
These are the kinds of things where it would be good to bounce this stuff off of people who have been there. I'm certainly not asking for anyone to hold my hand, it's more like I'm asking folks to get together and help each other. Not that anyone has said I'm trying to get people to hold my hand. I just believe that if many of us want to take this journey, why take it alone? I'll do it alone if I have to, and I WILL catch a walleye. I promise you that. It might be this time next year, or who knows when, but I can catch it on my own. And if I do, and someone asks me how I did it, I will straight up tell them exactly how and where to try, because jeeze, the times I've been out there fishing for these things, nobody is there, come on out and give me some company! LOL. At least someone will be there to pull me out of the water if I fall in. LOL.
Just like a lot of you said, you know, this past Saturday I put in on Lake Yonah at the ramp below Tugalo dam. I was on the water in my kayak before the sun was up and it poured rain all through most of the day. I went all over the upper half of the lake, hitting the tons of blow downs that are in there, drifting down the SC bank, then the GA bank for a while, trolling along the 35 foot mark for a while, then the 25, then the 15, 45, 50, going up into creek mouths, coming up on suspended fish and trying to get my bait in their zone - pretty much all the fish I saw were scattered and suspended. So basically I went everywhere and tried to cover as much water as possible without going too fast.
I started out with three way rigs. For my bottom dropper with the weight, I decided to try a jig head. I put a minnow on the jig head on one rig, and a nightcrawler on a hook for the long, trailing dropper. For the other one, I did just the opposite - I put the nightcrawler on the jig head and the minnow on the hook. I also just had a minnow on a hook with split shot above it. I managed to catch a yellow perch on that early on. I kept losing my three way rigs to the blow downs, so eventually I just went with the minnow on a hook with split shots and then a nightcrawler on a jig head. I tried trolling them around at different depths, bouncing them along the bottom, trolling them 100 feet behind the kayak, and just holding still on structure and dropping them straight down a foot off the bottom or directly on bottom.
The only times I noticed any action with my rod tips, was of course when I hooked the perch, but when I was over what was a hard bottom, let's say 20 feet, and then about 10 feet of green bottom on top of that. Not sure what I was looking at there, but my rod tips were moving while I was over that bottom, slowly getting pulled down, but nothing was ever there when I tried to set the hook. I could have been getting hung up, it could have been walleyes, or maybe it was just some lethargic little basses. Who knows. One time my rod got pulled pretty hard and kind of snapped back. A couple of other times, my rods pulled down and I thought I was hung. I pulled to get loose and my hooks came back with no bait. Again, not sure if I was snagged or if those were fish. I also got some rod tip action over a short, long green patch sitting on a 20 foot bottom, but again, no fish.
These are the kinds of things where it would be good to bounce this stuff off of people who have been there. I'm certainly not asking for anyone to hold my hand, it's more like I'm asking folks to get together and help each other. Not that anyone has said I'm trying to get people to hold my hand. I just believe that if many of us want to take this journey, why take it alone? I'll do it alone if I have to, and I WILL catch a walleye. I promise you that. It might be this time next year, or who knows when, but I can catch it on my own. And if I do, and someone asks me how I did it, I will straight up tell them exactly how and where to try, because jeeze, the times I've been out there fishing for these things, nobody is there, come on out and give me some company! LOL. At least someone will be there to pull me out of the water if I fall in. LOL.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
No need for apologies im just pulling your cord for pulling mine haha. Truth is there isnt tons of info cause there arent tons of folks who target them with enough success to really get anything juicy.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
There use to be an incredible sauger fishery in north alabama and into tennessee. I mean an yearly event for lots of people to fish the run and everybody caught fish daily and up to 4lbs. I hear that run is non existent now so unlikely they will get stocked in georgia at all.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
In a few short months you will be able to see dozens or even hundreds of them with your own eyes and they still wont bite. Imagine yourself at a buffett in a restaurant and nobody else is there. You dont need to rush, you get to pick and choose and take your time. That is what walleye get to do at night on our lakes. Crystal clear water with prey sources that do not have night vision like walleye do. They do not need to eat during the day as they are full from the night bite AND they completely dislike light. Consider walleye in georgia like offering a vampire a slice of cheese at high noon. He doesnt want the cheese and hes not coming out in the sun to eat it anyway.
I fish up there as well, from a kayak as well. I walleye fish really hard from the time I get there which is usually 30 minutes before even a hint of purple light until about an hour after you can see light in the sky. Once the sun is on my skin I go on to yellow perch fishing. I then break out the walleye baits again about 1.5 hours before its pitch dark. The only time I have caught a walleye during any time of day other than those I just mentioned was either in the spring run when they are way up river and stacked like cord wood or when the water was muddy that they could have been 5 feet deep and not seen a hint of light............and that day I caught them 40 feet deep on a spoon in the middle of nowhere with no structure and no bait to be had.
You can catch them during the day but you really need to pull a spread of 4 to 6 baits covering a nice 30+ foot wide patch. Ive tried it, hard work pulling multiple planar boards from the yak.
Cliff Speed
Senior Member
If it ends up being that hard, and I still haven't caught anything, but I still WANT to, I'll probably think about trying it in a different state and most likely start by giving the Tennessee lakes a try. That's where I'm from originally and I have tons of family up there, so it would be very easy for me to spend a weekend fishing up there. In fact my dad has a place right on Watts Bar and they just stocked over 200,000 walleyes in there a few years back. There are some saugers in there too. I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on fishing, period, so I'll just have to do the best I can. If I'm able, I'll try some night fishing one way or another.
As a matter of fact, here is a Watts Bar fishing report, that actually talks about where and how to catch walleye - even from the bank no less! What a novel concept! HAHA
http://tnfishingreport.com/fishing-...es/watts-bar-lake/watts-bar-lake-by-the-twra/
It's really baffling to me that it could be this hard here when it's so (relatively) easy in other places, even places that aren't that far away. This past spring I had a buddy who was fishing the Chestatee here and there, not really going hard at it - actually he was fishing for stripers - and he caught about nine walleyes over the course of the spring, and he was fishing a fly rod and clousers. He said the walleyes were absolutely nailing his clouser when they hit. I know he wasn't lying either, because he sent me photos. LOL. Unfortunately last spring I just didn't have the time to dedicate. I'm hoping it will be different this time and I'll be hooking up with him if I can.
As a matter of fact, here is a Watts Bar fishing report, that actually talks about where and how to catch walleye - even from the bank no less! What a novel concept! HAHA
http://tnfishingreport.com/fishing-...es/watts-bar-lake/watts-bar-lake-by-the-twra/
It's really baffling to me that it could be this hard here when it's so (relatively) easy in other places, even places that aren't that far away. This past spring I had a buddy who was fishing the Chestatee here and there, not really going hard at it - actually he was fishing for stripers - and he caught about nine walleyes over the course of the spring, and he was fishing a fly rod and clousers. He said the walleyes were absolutely nailing his clouser when they hit. I know he wasn't lying either, because he sent me photos. LOL. Unfortunately last spring I just didn't have the time to dedicate. I'm hoping it will be different this time and I'll be hooking up with him if I can.
If it ends up being that hard, and I still haven't caught anything, but I still WANT to, I'll probably think about trying it in a different state and most likely start by giving the Tennessee lakes a try. That's where I'm from originally and I have tons of family up there, so it would be very easy for me to spend a weekend fishing up there. In fact my dad has a place right on Watts Bar and they just stocked over 200,000 walleyes in there a few years back. There are some saugers in there too. I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on fishing, period, so I'll just have to do the best I can. If I'm able, I'll try some night fishing one way or another.
As a matter of fact, here is a Watts Bar fishing report, that actually talks about where and how to catch walleye - even from the bank no less! What a novel concept! HAHA
http://tnfishingreport.com/fishing-...es/watts-bar-lake/watts-bar-lake-by-the-twra/
It's really baffling to me that it could be this hard here when it's so (relatively) easy in other places, even places that aren't that far away. This past spring I had a buddy who was fishing the Chestatee here and there, not really going hard at it - actually he was fishing for stripers - and he caught about nine walleyes over the course of the spring, and he was fishing a fly rod and clousers. He said the walleyes were absolutely nailing his clouser when they hit. I know he wasn't lying either, because he sent me photos. LOL. Unfortunately last spring I just didn't have the time to dedicate. I'm hoping it will be different this time and I'll be hooking up with him if I can.
Again, the main secret to catching numbers of walleye is, except in early spring, to forget about the daylight hours and fish at night. With trolling in the daytime, the key is to go sloooooooooooow. If I can get my boat back running by late spring next year and you're still interested, I'll take you out one night if you don't mind driving to western NC.
Cashvaluerecovery
Senior Member
If it ends up being that hard, and I still haven't caught anything, but I still WANT to, I'll probably think about trying it in a different state and most likely start by giving the Tennessee lakes a try. That's where I'm from originally and I have tons of family up there, so it would be very easy for me to spend a weekend fishing up there. In fact my dad has a place right on Watts Bar and they just stocked over 200,000 walleyes in there a few years back. There are some saugers in there too. I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on fishing, period, so I'll just have to do the best I can. If I'm able, I'll try some night fishing one way or another.
As a matter of fact, here is a Watts Bar fishing report, that actually talks about where and how to catch walleye - even from the bank no less! What a novel concept! HAHA
http://tnfishingreport.com/fishing-...es/watts-bar-lake/watts-bar-lake-by-the-twra/
It's really baffling to me that it could be this hard here when it's so (relatively) easy in other places, even places that aren't that far away. This past spring I had a buddy who was fishing the Chestatee here and there, not really going hard at it - actually he was fishing for stripers - and he caught about nine walleyes over the course of the spring, and he was fishing a fly rod and clousers. He said the walleyes were absolutely nailing his clouser when they hit. I know he wasn't lying either, because he sent me photos. LOL. Unfortunately last spring I just didn't have the time to dedicate. I'm hoping it will be different this time and I'll be hooking up with him if I can.
Read your bold print above. Go throw bright shad raps and curly tail grubs in those same holes during that same time of year daily........and you will catch them too.....even in the day time.
jigman29
Senior Member
If it ends up being that hard, and I still haven't caught anything, but I still WANT to, I'll probably think about trying it in a different state and most likely start by giving the Tennessee lakes a try. That's where I'm from originally and I have tons of family up there, so it would be very easy for me to spend a weekend fishing up there. In fact my dad has a place right on Watts Bar and they just stocked over 200,000 walleyes in there a few years back. There are some saugers in there too. I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on fishing, period, so I'll just have to do the best I can. If I'm able, I'll try some night fishing one way or another.
As a matter of fact, here is a Watts Bar fishing report, that actually talks about where and how to catch walleye - even from the bank no less! What a novel concept! HAHA
http://tnfishingreport.com/fishing-...es/watts-bar-lake/watts-bar-lake-by-the-twra/
It's really baffling to me that it could be this hard here when it's so (relatively) easy in other places, even places that aren't that far away. This past spring I had a buddy who was fishing the Chestatee here and there, not really going hard at it - actually he was fishing for stripers - and he caught about nine walleyes over the course of the spring, and he was fishing a fly rod and clousers. He said the walleyes were absolutely nailing his clouser when they hit. I know he wasn't lying either, because he sent me photos. LOL. Unfortunately last spring I just didn't have the time to dedicate. I'm hoping it will be different this time and I'll be hooking up with him if I can.
I love fishing watts bar.I have a friend up there and I go a few times a year to target the sauger.We catch quite a few and the use the football head jigs up there a lot bt I prefer a Hopkins spoon over the other jigging combos out there.I use the crawler harnesses as well but I still grab a Hopkins spoon more than the rest.
crackerdave
Senior Member
Good thread!
I know a heckuva lot more about catching walleyes now.I've always been a "meat" fisherman,and I've always heard and read that walleyes are tasty.
Thanks for the good info....sounds like a pontoon boat at night with a lot of lines out and a very slow drift would be a good start.
I know a heckuva lot more about catching walleyes now.I've always been a "meat" fisherman,and I've always heard and read that walleyes are tasty.
Thanks for the good info....sounds like a pontoon boat at night with a lot of lines out and a very slow drift would be a good start.
